deputy, incited by the tumult of the people, and fearing for himself, commanded one of the executioners to ascend the pile and end her with the sword; which was done and she, looking steadfastly up to heaven, yielded up her pure spirit, and fell bathed in her blood.

"Her parents and her relatives took her body and carried it, weeping and singing hymns, to the cemetery outside the city, on the Via Nomentana; and there they laid her in a tomb. And day and night the Christians assembled in that place to offer up their devotions. And it happened that, on a certain day, as her parents with many others were praying by her sepulchre, St. Agnes herself appeared before them, all radiant of aspect; by her side was a lamb, whiter than the driven snow. And she said, Weep not, dry your tears, and rejoice with exceeding joy; for me a throne is prepared by the side of Him whom on earth I preferred to all others, and to whom I am united forever in heaven.' And having said these words she vanished. Then the Christian mourners wiped away their tears, and returned to their houses with joy and thanksgiving.”

St. Agnes is the favorite saint of the Roman women : the traditional reverence paid to her memory has been kept alive even to this hour by their local associations, and by the two famous churches at Rome bearing her name, one within and one without the walls.

The

The first stands on the west side of the Piazza Navona, on the very spot where stood the house of infamy to which she was dragged by the soldiers. chamber which, for her preservation, was filled with heavenly light, has become, from the change of level all over Rome, as well as the position of the church, a subterranean cell, and is now a chapel of peculiar sanctity, into which you descend by torch-light. The floor retains the old mosaic, and over the altar is a bas-relief, representing St. Agnes, with clasped hands, and covered only by her long tresses, while two ferocious soldiers drive her before them. The upper church, as a

piece of architecture, is beautiful, and rich in precious marbles and antique columns. The works of art are all mediocre, and of the seventeenth century, but the statue over her altar has considerable elegance. Often have I seen the steps of this church, and the church itself, so crowded with kneeling worshippers at matins and vespers that I could not make my way among them; principally the women of the lower orders, with their distaffs and market-baskets, who had come there to pray, through the intercession of the patron saint, for the gifts of meekness and chastity, -— gifts not abounding in those regions.

The other church of St. Agnes the Sant' Agnese beyond the Porta-Pia is yet more interesting. According to the old tradition, it was erected by Constantine the Great, at the earnest request of his daughter Constantia, only a few years after the death of Agnes, and to commemorate the spot in which she was laid. This has been controverted, but it remains certain that the church was in 625 an ancient edifice, and at that time restored. Notwithstanding many subsequent renovations, it retains its antique form and most of its antique decorations, and is certainly one of the most remarkable and venerable of the old churches of Rome. So deep below the present level of the soil is the floor of the church, that we have to descend into it by a flight of marble steps. The statue of the saint, of bronze and oriental alabaster, stands over the high altar beneath it is the sarcophagus containing her remains, more authentic than such relics usually are. The mosaic in the apsis (A. D. 625-638) represents her standing, crowned, and holding a book in her hand, in the Byzantine manner. Out of the earth spring flowers, and a sword lies at her feet; both in allusion to her martyrdom. On the right is Pope Honorius, holding the church; and on the other side, Pope Symmachus, holding a book.

So ancient is the worship paid to St. Agnes, that, next to the Evangelists and Apostles, there is no saint

whose effigy is older. It is found on the ancient glass and earthenware vessels used by the Christians in the early part of the third century, with her name inscribed, which leaves no doubt of her identity. But neither in these images, nor in the mosaic, is the lamb introduced, which in later times has become her inseparable attribute, as the patroness of maidens and maidenly modesty. She bears the palm as martyr, seldom the book. I

have seen her holding a branch of olive together with the palm, and sometimes crowned with olive.

As her effigies are not easily mistaken, and abound in every form and every school of Art, I shall confine myself to a few celebrated examples.

1. She is often looking down meekly, as in a beautiful and rare engraving by Martin Schoen.

2. As martyr. She is seated, partly veiled, holding her palm in the right hand, with the other embracing her lamb, and looking up with a mild, trusting faith; the drapery amber and violet: as in a picture by Andrea del Sarto in the Duomo at Pisa. It is the head of his beautiful but worthless wife, more idealized than usual.

3. As martyr, she presents her palm to Christ; as in a picture by Titian in the Louvre.

4. As patroness of maidenhood, she presents a nun to the Madonna; as in a lovely picture by Paul Veronese.*

5. In the altar-piece by Domenichino at Windsor, she stands leaning on a pedestal, in the likeness of a young girl of about twelve or thirteen, magnificently attired, and her long hair confined by a tiara; her hands are joined in supplication, yet she looks up to heaven as one trusting and assured; at her side an angel caresses a lamb; another angel descends from above with the palm::-a splendid picture, well remembered by all who have visited the Windsor collection, and universally known by the famous engraving of Strange. I do not admire it, however; - it is not

* Venice Acad.

in character; it is too regal, too sumptuous, too triumphant; and the portrait-like head, and rather heavy figure, deficient altogether in ideal sanctity and elevation. There is a tradition that it is the portrait of the artist's daughter.

Domenichino professed an especial veneration for St. Agnes, and was often called upon to paint her. Besides the single figure at Windsor, he painted for her church at Bologna the famous Martyrdom which is now in the Gallery there. The saint kneels upon the pile of fagots; the fire has just been extinguished by divine interposition; two of the executioners lie prostrate on the ground; a third has seized her hair, and, drawing back her head, plunges the sword into her bosom: there are several spectators, and among them the usual group of frightened women and children. Above, the heavens open in glory, and Christ delivers to an angel the palm and crown which are to recompense the martyr. This picture, which has always been reckoned amongst the most celebrated productions of the Bologna school, as a masterpiece of dramatic arrangement and expression, is to me sovereignly displeasing. In the first place, there is something not only shocking, but positively unnatural, in the stupid, brutal indifference with which the executioner slaughters the young and beautiful saint. It is a murder, and not a martyrdom, which we see before us; the women who look on ought to fly, or hide their faces, from such a spectacle. To complete the discordant feeling, and in contrast with the coldblooded horror of the lower part of the picture, we behold a chorus of angels piping and fiddling up in the sky, with the most unsympathizing self-complacency.

The Martyrdom of St. Agnes, by Tintoretto, in the S. Maria dell' Orto at Venice, is treated like a theatrical scene: there is a flight of steps, on which are a number of spectators, and on the summit is the saint, kneeling, attired in virgin white, and prepared to receive the stroke of the exccutioner.

The same subject by Joanes, at Madrid, "contains

some beautiful Raphaelesque heads." I know not how the action is represented.

With St. Agnes is sometimes introduced her friend and foster sister Ermentiana, who was stoned because she reproved the pagans for their barbarity.

Other subjects from the life of St. Agnes must occur rarely. I remember but one: she restores the son of Sempronius to life. The vision of the glorified saint to the Christian mourners appears to me capable of the most beautiful treatment, but I have not met with one example. It is generally as the patron saint of innocence, or as the virgin martyr, that St. Agnes is brought before us.*

Richardson describes a picture of a young saint kneeling, and protected from violence by the apparition of an angel, who fills the whole chamber with light. He calls the subject St. Cecilia, but it is evidently St. Agnes. In his time this picture was in the Borghese Palace, and attributed to Correggio. no recollection of such a picture.

I have

ST. AGATHA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR.

Lat. Sancta Agatha. Fr. Sainte Agathe. Ital. Santa Agata. Ger. Die Heilige Agatha. Patroness against fire, and all diseases of the breast. Patroness of Malta and of Catania. Feb. 5, A. D. 251.

"THERE dwelt in the city of Catania, in Sicily, a certain Christian maiden whose name was Agatha. In those days reigned the emperor Decius, who had strangled his predecessor Philip; and, to make it believed by all that he had put him to death out of great zeal and for being a Christian, not from motives of ambition, this Decius sent his emissaries throughout the empire to oppress and persecute the Christians, and many were put to death. And to Sicily Decius sent

*We have only two churches in England dedicated in her name.